Method of creping silk fabrics



Patented May 8, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

macaw Payer, on wooncnm. new .rEnsEY.

un'rnonor oanrme SILK nannies.

Io Drawing.

The present invention relates to an improvement in silk crepe and the art of crepin silk fabric and maybe effectively applied to theproduction of crepe effects in fabrics such as crepe ole chine, crepe georgette, crepe romain, crepe chiffon and the like, and particularly silk fabrics containing thread having a hardtwist either in warp, in filling, or in both. been customary to produce the crepe effect by boiling the fabric in a soapy solution preferably containing water softening chemicals if required, In this operation it has been found that the fabric loses from twenty to twenty-five per cent of its weight, this being caused chiefly b the boilingofi of the. natural um of the si k.

Accor ing to my invention I am able to effect the creping of silk fabric without losing any substantial part of the natural gums of the silk so that, when treated according to my process, the fabric is creped as eifectively as by any known process and loses no appreciable weight in the operation, thus producing a silk crepe having substantially all of the natural gum of the silk, a product which so far as I am aware has never before been produced.

In practicing my invention, I subject the fabric to active agitation while wet with water preferably containing in solution or suspension a suitable lubricating medium of such a nature as to permit or facilitate relative slippage between intersecting threads I and under such conditions that the fabric will retain practically all of its natural gums. For commercial operations I find that the characteristic creping or distortion of the fibres is satisfactorily produced by agitating the silk in an ordinary laundry machine of a well known type com rising perforated drum rotatably mounte in a tank and driven so that the direction of rotation can be varied. In such a machine operating with about four hundred gallons of water, I am able to treat effectively from sixty to eighty pounds of silk fabric in a single batch. I add to the four hundred gallons of Water a suitable lubrlcatin medium preferably soluble in water, sue for example as a soap, and I also add to the water when necessary a suitable water-softener such as ammonia or soda or both. The amount of soap will be approximately fifteen per cent to twenty per cent of the weight of the fabric to be treated. For example, in

and the type of soap.

Heretofore it has solution.

' Application filed Ianuary'B, 1927. Serial No. 160,004.

treating sixtyto eightly pounds of silk fab- I'lC in about four hundred gallonsof water, I use fifteen to twenty pounds of soap solution and two to live pounds of water softener, depending on the nature of the water In some instances, it will be desirable to supply an'excess of oil, in which caseI use soap to the. amount of fifteenper cent of the weight of thefabric and add thereto a suitable soluble or miscible oil .to the amount of about'five per cent of the weight of the fabric. Amongthe oils suitable for this purpose will be any oil which readily emulsifies or becomes a part of the soapy For this purpose I have found that turkey red oil or sulphonated or as onified castor or olive oils or the like wiIl be effective. It is contem lated that any oil which will serve as a lu ricant may be employed such for example as petrol, stearin soap 011 and other emulsifiable oils of mineral, vegetable or animal origin. It is also contemplated that any suitable ingredient or ingredients which will accom lish the desired thread lubricating effect without injury to the silk or substantial loss of the natural gums thereof may be substituted for the oils mentioned.

It is important that the bath or solution be such that the natural gums of the silk will not be loosened, removed or dissolvedfrom the fibre. YVhile the temperature of such bath may vary I have found that no substantial loss of weight by reason of dissolving of the gum is occasioned when the bath is maintained below one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. The time of treatment will vary somewhat according to the weight of the fabric. For example, withsilks of between eight and fifteen yards to the pound the time of treatment for a batch of sixty to eighty pounds will range from about twenty-five minutes to ten minutes when carried on in the mechanical device above mentioned. However, the creping effect is read ily discerned by inspection and a different kind of degree of mechanical or other manipulation may well increase or diminish the times indicated.

I claim as my invention: v1. The method of creping silk fabric which comprises agitating the fabric while wet with water at a temperature less than that required to melt the natural gums of said silk and containing a lubricant for permitting slippage between intersecting threads of the fabric. V

2. The method of creping silk fabric which comprises agitating thefabric while it contains a dilute soap solution at a temperature lower than the melting point of gums contained in the silk.

3. The method of creping silk fabric which comprises subjecting the fabric to thread stretching. forces while wet with a dilute soap solution at a temperature under 120 Fahrenheit.

4. The method of creping silk fabric which comprises agitating the fabric while wet and at a temperature less than that required to melt the natural gums of said silk.

5. The method of converting an uncreped natural silk fabric into crepe, which comprises the step of effecting the characteris 7. A wovenfabric containing natural silk threads having substantially all of the natural gums of the silk and presenting the crinkled appearance and texture of ore e.

In testimony whereof, I have signes my January 1927.

JEROME PAYET;

name to this specification this 6th day of 

